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T�jacks� flight leaves no minor void photo by Bob Pennell For the first time in many years, professional baseball won�t be played at Miles Field this summer. Groundskeeper Jordell Hasha still has a job, despite the departure of the Southern Oregon Timberjacks to Canada. He keeps up the field for other youth baseball teams. Money took pro baseball from Medford to Canada By Greg Stiles The game has changed. If it were like many other recent summer Sunday nights at Miles Field, George Bolanos would be firing up the barbecue, Harold Moss would be meandering up and down the bleachers selling 50-50 tickets, and a groundskeeping crew would readying the field for play. But the ballpark�s primary tenant for more than 20 years has skipped town; left the country for that matter. So what are the prospects of another minor league baseball team coming to Medford? If you�re thinking about another team affiliated to a major league organization, the chances aren�t very good. Northwest League president Bob Richmond says two recent efforts to expand from the present eight teams have been vetoed by Major League Baseball. The earliest possible expansion would follow expansion at the major league level, Richmond says. When Doug and Julie Emmans brought the A�s to Medford in 1979, minor league baseball had yet to reach the period of celebrity ownership. Medford and Miles Field were an improvement over Bend and Vince Genna Stadium. Back in 1979, Bellingham, Central Oregon (Bend), Eugene, Grays Harbor (Aberdeen), Medford, Salem, Victoria, British Columbia, and Walla Walla comprised the league. Northwest League teams have gravitated to larger markets in the past decade, leaving behind Bellingham, Bend and Medford. Yakima is now far and away the smallest market in the league with a population of around 60,000 and 110,000 in the vicinity. "We would�ve loved to have stayed," says Fred Herrmann, who moved the his franchise to Vancouver, British Columbia, this season. "But when I had to borrow money to pay the taxes, we had no alternative but to move." A second possibility would be bringing a Western League team to town. The Western League is not part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, whose players are supplied by major league organizations. The Western League has four teams in California, Chico being the nearest franchise, and four more spread among Arizona, Utah and Washington. A Georgia radio station owner has expressed interest in bringing a Western League team to the area. If you�re interested in becoming a partner, he wants to hear from you. Ron Cameron can be reached at (706) 245-6101. Rogue Valley baseball fans, accustomed to watching the major league stars of tomorrow, have lost something that�s been part of the area�s nightscape for nearly a generation. The Northwest League season began this week without a team in Medford for the first time since 1979. For 21 summers, the Oakland Athletics� Northwest League affiliate resided at Miles Field. On average, more than 70,000 fans a season showed up to watch what amounted to college all-star teams. No longer are players from throughout the Western Hemisphere on display in the Rogue Valley. Only American Legion, Babe Ruth and a smattering of adult league baseball remain. The economic reality was that the franchise�s principal owner and president, Fred Herrmann, could reap greater financial return by taking his team to a metropolitan area. Last year, the club announced it was going to Vancouver, Wash. Then Portland regained a AAA franchise for the 2001 season, necessitating an alternative location. When the Pacific Coast League team in Vancouver, British Columbia, packed its bags for Sacramento, Calif., Herrmann had the perfect spot for his team � a city with four times as many residents as the region he left. The Vancouver Canadians� home opener is Sunday night at Nat Bailey Stadium, built in 1952 but with a capacity double Miles Field�s. Herrmann says season ticket sales "easily surpassed" those in Medford. The fans here didn�t fill the ballpark every night, but on a per capita basis, Southern Oregon fans turned out in numbers equal to crowds in Boise, Everett or Salem. If it were like any other opening night for the Medford A�s-Southern Oregon A�s-Southern Oregon Timberjacks the past two decades, you could expect about 3,000 spectators to show up at Miles Field. Bolanos was a baseball fan first, who found a niche at the ballpark on game nights to earn a little vacation money on the side. His wife and daughter helped in the concession stand and his son, once a bat boy, later worked in the clubhouse. "I thought a lot about it during the winter," Bolanos concedes. "I was hoping something was going to happen and they got to stay here. But nothing did." Moss was perhaps the most visible figures at the ballpark as he called out: "Get your 50-50 tickets, three for a dollar." He says it came as little surprise when Herrmann began looking around for a new location. "It was bound to happen sooner or later," Moss says. "It all boils down to money. The majority of fans don�t think of it as a business, because it�s entertainment to them. "My thought has always been that this area never really supported baseball." Or at least to the extent that money didn�t pour in to finish the stadium refurbishing project, begun in the early 1990s, that would�ve put Miles Field on a par with typical Northwest League ballparks. "Baseball has never really been that big since I�ve been here, and for what reason I don�t know," Moss says. "You hear all about high school baseball being a big deal, but if you go to watch North play South (Medford) and there are 50 people there, that�s a helluva crowd." Retired Medford educator Herb Wing has been a loyal fan for years, watching the steady parade of Oakland draft picks launch their careers at Miles Field. "It creates a void," Wing says. "One of my grandsons is getting out of the Navy and said the other day that �I sure wish I could go to a ball game with you folks.� When he was home, he liked going to games." Wing as among those hopeful of another team replacing the Timberjacks before too many summers come and go. "I�m kind of disgusted about the way the whole thing was done," Wing says. "I feel like I had the rug pulled out from underneath. Assuming we get another team before too long, I�d go back to being a regular patron." Although American Legion baseball games, featuring 16-to-18-year-olds, are the major bill of fare this summer, Herrmann continues in charge of the facility until September. Groundskeeper Jordell Hasha and bookkeeper Carol Miner are among Herrmann�s few remaining employees. Hasha is hopeful his services will be needed after the Miles Field Renovation Society assumes upkeep for the park. Hasha sees the departure of the franchise in similar terms to the Starlite Drive In and Lithia Drive In down Highway 99. "When I first got here, it was difficult to find things to do after work,�� Hasha said. "Going to a movie was about as good as it got. Now there is so much more money and people have other agendas. People go to the coast and go camping. But they aren�t sleeping on the ground any more." While the ticket prices were steep compared to other short-season teams around the country, a trip to the park was relatively inexpensive. Hasha was former groundskeeper Richard Steinmuller�s assistant until this season. Even without a professional team, he keeps plenty busy. American Legion games played six nights this week. "I�m still here 9 a.m. until 11 at night," he says. The fans might not be the only ones missing pro ball in Medford. The atmosphere during afternoon stretches, batting practice and infield was unlike Portland, Spokane, Boise or Vancouver, British Columbia. Often, former big-leaguers returning to the minors as coaches talked about their Northwest League days and how they loved playing at Miles Field with the scenic east hills backdrop, punctuated by Roxy Ann. At least for this season, the young boys of summer will miss out on that experience � along with the fans. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA